Overview
Helene Hechtkopf is a litigation partner at Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, LLP. She concentrates her practice on employment, commercial and construction litigation matters, advising clients ranging from public entities to both large and small public clients. Her clients include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City Transit Authority, as well as numerous private clients.
Helene frequently defends clients in high stake litigation and advisory matters, including employment cases alleging discrimination and retaliation under a range of state and federal statutes, such as those involving race, gender, disability, and whistleblower protections, in forums including the federal and state courts of New York, OSHA, the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New York City Commission on Human Rights, as well as in private arbitration and mediation. She also defends clients in class actions alleging civil rights violations and discrimination, providing strategic guidance and effective advocacy.
Helene works with her clients to avoid litigation where possible, and where that isn’t possible, to get to the best outcome – whether by settlement, winning on a motion, or winning at trial.
Helene currently holds the position of Chair of the prestigious Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association
Recognition
- Named one of 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers by Lawdragon, 2025
- Benchmark’s Litigation Future Star, 2024-2025
- Benchmark’s Litigation Labor & Employment Star, 2024
- New York Super Lawyers "Super Lawyer" in Civil (2018-2024)
- Benchmark’s Litigation 40 & Under List, 2023-2024
- Benchmark Litigation 40 & Under Hot List, 2022
- Named to the New York Law Journal’s 2020 Rising Stars
- Shortlisted for Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Americas Rising Star Award for Best in Litigation: General Commercial 2019
- New York Metro Super Lawyers “Rising Star”- General Litigation, Criminal Defense: White Collar and Appellate Litigation, 2014 – 2018
- Profiles in Diversity Journal's 2018 Women Worth Watching list
Leadership
- Chair of the Commercial & Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association
- American Bar Association
Experience
Experience
- Representing New York City Transit Authority in a pregnancy discrimination claim brought by a subway worker who miscarried her pregnancy.
- Representing New York City Transit Authority in a disability discrimination claim brought by an employee disputing his failure to obtain a reasonable accommodation.
- First-chaired a trial in the Southern District of New York representing the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a lawsuit brought by an MTA police officer who claimed to have been injured on the job while making an arrest. Won a defense verdict at trial.
- Currently representing New York City Transit in a class action alleging that its elevators are not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Representing a state agency in a multimillion-dollar software and construction litigation against a defense contractor in the Southern District of New York, culminating in a five-week bench trial.
- Defending a state-employed psychiatrist in a Section 1983 and tort claim brought by the family of a deceased prisoner.
- Obtained a rare defense win on summary judgment on behalf of a public railroad against Federal Railroad Safety Act whistleblower claims.
- Won a motion to dismiss on behalf of Metro-North Railroad in a claim brought by a passenger under the Americans with Disabilities Act claiming that Metro-North was in violation of the law for failing to provide a wheelchair to the passenger upon his arrival at Grand Central Terminal. Obtained a decision of first impression from the court, holding that railroads are not required by the ADA to provide wheelchairs to customers.
- Won summary judgment on an employment discrimination claim brought by an employee and successfully defended the subsequent appeal to the Second Circuit.
- Won summary judgment on a claim brought against a state agency by an employee under the Federal Employers Liability Act.
- Successfully concluded a bench trial in the Southern District of New York on a multimillion-dollar claim involving disputed ownership of property.
- Submitted a brief on behalf of a foreign energy company to the New York State Court of Appeals.
- Representing an international testing company in a class action litigation brought in the District of Puerto Rico involving an oil facility explosion.
News
News & Insights
Admissions
Admissions
- Bar of the State of New York
- Bar of the State of New Jersey
- U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New York and Eastern District of New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Publications and Presentations
Publications and Presentations
- “Recognizing that protections for the accused vary is critical in representing clients facing transnational criminal investigations,” the International Bar Association’s Criminal Law and Business Crime Newsletter, Volume 8 Number 1, May 2015, co-authored with John Curley.
- “What Public Safety Officials Need to Know About Technology Contracts & Disputes” presented at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials’ (APCO) Atlantic Conference, October 2015.
- “Beyond Daubert: How to Exclude An Expert Witness,” published in Law360 on August 25, 2016.
Practice Areas
Education
University of Virginia (B.A. 2004)
- with High Distinction
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D. 2007)
- cum laude
- Order of the Coif
- Cardozo Law Review
- Dean’s Distinguished Scholar